Ventura was ejected after catcher A.J. Pierzynski was thrown out by home plate umpire Lance Barrett. Crew chief Jim Joyce stepped between the two and had to restrain Ventura as he sought to get his point across to Barrett.

"He was just doing his job," Ventura said of Joyce. "I even told him, 'I don't want to bump you.' He said, 'You are not bumping me.' It was more of a dance than it was a bump."

The normally mild-mannered Ventura said he holds no grudges.

"I don't have any (hard feelings), it's just part of the game," he said Sunday. "(The umpires) are trying to do their job and I'm trying to do mine."

"This is absolutely ridiculous. ... This might be as bad a two innings as I've ever seen from a guy behind the plate ... so he's bad, so he throws out our catcher and our manager because he's brutal.''

"Lance Barrett has just stunk the joint up is all he's done. That's all he's done."

Harrelson was reprimanded by Reinsdorf and Commissioner Bud Selig earlier this season for comments Harrelson made about umpire Mark Wegner. Harrelson later called Wegner and apologized.

Harrelson said at the time he would "do everything in my power to not let it happen again."

Ventura might let it happen again, but he says it will not turn in to a complete meltdown, a la classic confrontations by Earl Weaver or Lou Piniella.

"I don't have those," he said. "Lou's were good. I don't think I have any base-tossing in my future."